1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bill transport apparatus, which is applicable in particular to an automatic teller machine (ATM) for depositing and withdrawing bills and more specifically to its bill transport unit.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a conventional automatic teller machine, a cashbox is disposed in the lower portion of the machine, and an upper bill mechanism is disposed above the cashbox to be movable forward and backward so as to be pulled out and installed in the machine. The upper bill mechanism is provided with a bill transport unit, or in-mechanism transport unit, forming a transport path for transporting a bill, or in-mechanism bill transport path. In the cashbox also, there is provided a bill transport unit, or in-cashbox transport unit, forming a transport path for transporting a bill, in-cashbox transport path.
The cashbox has a hole formed at a predetermined position in its top. Within the hole of the cashbox, there is disposed a bill transport unit, or delivery transport unit, forming a transport path, or bill delivery transport path, which connects, when the upper bill mechanism is installed in the automatic teller machine, the in-cashbox transport unit to the in-mechanism transport unit to transport a bill in order to deliver the bill to the in-cashbox transport path and the in-mechanism bill transport path.
In the automatic teller machine, for example, when the upper bill mechanism is installed and fixed, the in-mechanism transport unit may be displaced from immediately above the delivery transport unit toward either the pull-out side of the upper bill mechanism, i.e. mechanism pull-out side, or the installation side, i.e. mechanism installation side. The delivery transport unit is thus provided in the automatic teller machine in order to allow the bill delivery transport path to be connected to the in-mechanism bill transport path when the in-mechanism transport unit is displaced with respect to the delivery transport unit toward the mechanism pull-out side or the mechanism installation side.
Now with reference to FIG. 21, in an in-mechanism transport unit 200, parallel transport guides 210 and 211 are installed in pair at its section connected to the transport path to a delivery transport unit 201 at a predetermined spacing in the pull-out direction of the upper bill mechanism, or mechanism pull-out direction, as represented by an arrow a10, and a roller or the like, not shown, is also disposed. Thus, the in-mechanism transport unit 200 forms an in-mechanism bill transport path between one transport guide located on the mechanism pull-out side, or pull-out side fixing guide, 210 and the other transport guide located on the mechanism installation side, or installation side fixing guide, 211. The in-mechanism bill transport path has its transverse cross-sectional depth corresponding to a distance between the guides. The pull-out side fixing guide 210 and the installation side fixing guide 211 have their respective comb-like front end pointing downward. The pull-out side fixing guide 210 has its planer presser 212 formed at a predetermined position, which protrudes toward the delivery transport unit 201, that is, downward.
In the delivery transport unit 201, transport guides 220 and 221 are located in pair at its section connected to the transport path to the in-mechanism transport unit 200 at a predetermined spacing in the mechanism pull-out direction, and are rotatable about respective rotational shafts 222 and 223 attached to the bottom ends of the guides. Rollers 224, 225 and a transport belt 226 are provided.
Thus, the delivery transport unit 201 forms a bill delivery transport path between one transport guide located on the mechanism pull-out side, or pull-out side movable guide, 220 and the other transport guide located on the mechanism installation side, or installation side movable guide, 221. The bill delivery transport path has its cross-sectional depth corresponding to a distance between the guides. In this case, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 have their respective front ends located higher than their respective bottom ends, and the front ends are comb-shaped. The pull-out side movable guide 220 is provided with a generally L-like protrusion 220A at its front end, which protrudes toward the mechanism installation side.
The delivery transport unit 201 has a spring, or pull-out side spring, 227 that is closer to the mechanism pull-out side than the pull-out side movable guide 220, and the pull-out side spring 227 biases the pull-out side movable guide 220 to rotate clockwise, i.e. toward the mechanism installation side. The delivery transport unit 201 has a spring having a larger elastic force than the pull-out side spring 227, installation side spring, 228 that is closer to the mechanism installation side than the installation side movable guide 221, and the installation side spring 228 biases the installation side movable guide 221 to rotate counterclockwise, i.e. toward the mechanism pull-out side. Thus, in the delivery transport unit 201, the pull-out side spring 227 and the installation side spring 228 cause the protrusion 220A of the pull-out side movable guide 220 to be pressed against the front end of the installation side movable guide 221.
In the delivery transport unit 201, the length of the protrusion 220A is selected such that, when the pull-out side movable guide 220 is made perpendicular to the mechanism pull-out direction and the protrusion 220A is pressed to a predetermined position, i.e. reference position, of the front end of the installation side movable guide 221, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are substantially parallel to each other separated from each other at a spacing substantially equal to the spacing between the pull-out side fixing guide 210 and the installation side fixing guide 211, that is, both guides are rendered vertically located.
In the automatic teller machine thus structured, when the upper bill mechanism is pulled out for maintenance, the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is separated from the delivery transport unit 201. At that time, in the automatic teller machine, the installation side movable guide 221 and the pull-out side movable guide 220 are rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle at which elastic forces of the pull-out side spring 227 and the installation side spring 228 are well-balanced to incline the guides.
In this state, when the upper bill mechanism is installed in the automatic teller machine, the presser 212 of the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is pressed against the protrusion 220A of the pull-out side movable guide 220, thereby rotating the pull-out side movable guide 220 clockwise by an angle corresponding to the position of the presser 212 of the in-mechanism transport unit 200. The automatic teller machine is adapted to press the protrusion 220A of the pull-out side movable guide 220 against the front end of the installation side movable guide 221, thereby rotating the installation side movable guide 221 clockwise in cooperation with the rotation of the pull-out side movable guide 220.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 22, in the automatic teller machine, when the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is displaced from immediately above the delivery transport unit 201 toward the mechanism pull-out side, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are rendered inclined from the vertical position toward the mechanism pull-out side, and their front ends are made engaged with the front ends of the pull-out side fixing guide 210 and the installation side fixing guide 211 so as to connect the bill delivery transport path to the in-mechanism bill transport path.
As shown in FIG. 23, in the automatic teller machine, when the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is located immediately above the delivery transport unit 201, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are put into the vertical position, and their front ends are made engaged with the front ends of the pull-out side fixing guide 210 and the installation side fixing guide 211 so as to connect the bill delivery transport path to the in-mechanism bill transport path.
Further, as shown in FIG. 24, in the automatic teller machine, when the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is displaced from immediately above the delivery transport unit 201 toward the mechanism installation side, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are made inclined from the vertical position toward the mechanism installation side, and their front ends are engaged with the front ends of the pull-out side fixing guide 210 and the installation side fixing guide 211 so as to connect the bill delivery transport path to the in-mechanism bill transport path.
The automatic teller machine is thus adapted such that, when the upper bill mechanism is installed and fixed, the bill delivery transport path can be connected to the in-mechanism bill transport path irrespective of how the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is displaced from the delivery transport unit 201. In this connection, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 7,900,916 to Sugahara, et al., column 3, line 37—column column 9, line 64, and FIGS. 3 and 5-13.
In the automatic teller machine thus structured, when the pull-out side movable guide 220 is rotated clockwise upon installing the upper bill mechanism, the installation side movable guide 221 is also rotated clockwise by pressing of the protrusion 220A fixed to the pull-out side movable guide 220.
More specifically, when the in-mechanismtransport unit 200 is displaced from immediately above the delivery transport unit 201 toward the mechanism pull-out side of the automatic teller machine, the protrusion 220A of the pull-out side movable guide 220 is pressed to a position closer to the front end than the reference position of the installation side movable guide 221, thereby inclining the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 from the vertical position toward the mechanism pull-out side. When the in-mechanism transport unit 200 is displaced from immediately above the delivery transport unit 201 toward mechanism installation side of the automatic teller machine, the protrusion 220A of the pull-out side movable guide 220 is pressed to a position closer to the bottom end than the reference position of the installation side movable guide 221, thereby inclining the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 from the vertical position toward the mechanism installation side.
However, in the automatic teller machine, when the protrusion 220A of the pull-out side movable guide 220 is pressed to the position other than the reference position of the installation side movable guide 221 as described above, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are inclined at a different inclination angle so that they are not in parallel to each other. More specifically, in the automatic teller machine, when the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are inclined, they become different in the cross-sectional depth of the transport path between the front ends and the bottom ends thereof.
Owing to the difference in cross-sectional depth, in the automatic teller machine, the pull-out side movable guide 220 and the installation side movable guide 221 are inclined to be engaged with the pull-out side fixing guide 210 and the installation side fixing guide 211, as apparent from FIGS. 22 and 24, the front end/ends of the bill delivery transport path or/and the in-mechanism bill transport path enters may be caught by the connecting section of the bill delivery transport path with the in-mechanism bill transport path, causing a step or a hollow to be formed.
When the front end of the path enters into the connecting section between the bill delivery transport path and the in-mechanism bill transport path to form the step or hollow, a bill, when transported therethrough, may be caught by the step or hollow of the connecting section, thus causing the bill to be jammed or broken.
Thus, the conventional automatic teller machine has the problem that the bill delivery transport path would not be sufficient in being adequately connected to the in-mechanism bill transport path irrespective of displacement of the in-mechanism transport unit 200 from the delivery transport unit 201.